"For coaches and sports scientists, figures are like a photo" - head of performance at Lidl-Trek explains a bit of how data analysis works

Numbers and data, in addition to nutrition, have a major role in today's cycling. What remains a mystery is how all those different numbers are measured and interpreted by different teams. Josu Larrazabal, head of performance at Lidl-Trek, tries to explain how things work.

"For coaches and sports scientists, figures are like a photo," the Spaniard says on the Lidl-Trek website. "They tell the facts as they are. They demonstrate an athlete's performance through a simple language of recognized statistics."

"The reports, which are adapted to a particular race, will, for example, support the decisions of the team leaders in the race and doctors or nutritionists can also use them. In short, they make the data available to every specialist in the most comprehensible way."

"The best scenario is when uncertainty is kept to a minimum. Figures are essential to provide certainties and facts, so that we make fewer mistakes when evaluating a rider or making a specific decision. In addition, we now also better understand the effectiveness of training plans and the evolution of physical fitness to deliver the best performance at the right time. That is a mental confidence boost for an athlete."